Liz Krueger likes ‘dese apples

Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat from the Upper East Side known for advocating reform a tad more vocally than some of her colleagues, is starting a political action committee to assist like-minded candidates.

She has launched the “No Bad Apples” PAC,which she explained by phone will be a “relatively small but very targeted project” to find candidates and “maybe convince them they want to join me in the state Senate.” Noting she was a reluctant candidate when she first ran for office, Krueger said: “Sometimes the best people don’t even know that they should be candidates for office.”

Her goal is to raise $300,000 over the course of this cycle. She didn’t name any bad apples, but said her efforts “at this moment in history, I think, will be focusing exclusively on Republicans, although I say that with hesitance because if in fact Carl Kruger decides to run I will actually get involved in working to make sure he’s not a state senator.”

The fact that Krueger, who in contrast to some Democratic colleagues has eschewed legal probes, subpoenas and New York Postexposes, underlies the point of this PAC. (Krueger’s threshold for bad appledom? “There probably needs to be a criminal charge. There’s been rumors flying about half of Albany – pick a day, pick a week.”)

Both she and DSCC Chairman Mike Gianaris say they are “complimentary” parts of the Democratic fundraising strategy, allowing a bifurcation for that certain class of donor that has a tad more Jimminy Cricket-principle than Pedronian-pay-to-play in their heart. Krueger’s PAC won’t be focusing on current incumbents, like DSCC must. (See Stachowski, William T.)

“I have people who are donating who say, ‘I don’t necessarily like giving to a big party operation,’” Krueger explained. “I’m saying, let me come back to you with three or four people, say I think they’re fabulous, and asking them to invest directly in their efforts. It’s a very different model.”

Gianaris, who just reported DSCC has raised over $1 million in the past six months, said, “Senator Krueger has been talking to us throughout this process and is working in a complimentary manner, and if she is developing another pocket of support for our candidates, all the better.”

I see something else interesting here: a concentration of the Senate Dems’ political operation out of the hands of its current leader, John Sampson. He was unable to shepherd the conference to retain its majority in 2010 (to be fair, it was a very tough year for Democrats around the state), and the decision to appoint Gianaris as DSCC chair reflects the willingness to get what Krueger and Deputy Minority Leader Neil Breslin, D-Albany, have called “new blood” into positions of prominence. Coupled the enmity between Sampsons allies and Sen. Jeff Klein, a Bronxite who was one of four breakaway senators to form the IDC earlier this year, I think we’re seeing the seeds of a new leadership team that eventually reconciles with the Klein klatch but doesn’t include Sampson. Krueger did not suggest this in our interview, but she did say the IDC is “a separate conference with Democratic ideals. I suspect that in the future we’ll come back together.”

But that’s just me. We’ll see what happens in 2012, and we’ll know who No Bad Apples’ donors are when the PAC files this week. Krueger’s aide in the project, Brendan Kelly, said he doesn’t have exact numbers yet.

And below, you can watch Krueger talk to Elizabeth on last night’s Capital Tonight.